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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Zuppa dell'Orto

From my garden

This is what I got from my garden: yellow and green beans (a few of the yellow beans where overgrown so I collected the big purple beans inside), celery, tomatoes and my first mini pumpkin. All in the pot, with some rain water and rock salt. Yep, rain water, our water comes from the sky and we collect it in a big tank. Can't stop thinking that a soup like this is almost self-sufficient, a part from the salt!

Since my leeks are not ready and I don't have any onions or garlic in the garden, I thought of adding some chives at the end, for that 'oniony' kick. But you know what? When I lifted the lid it smelled like I had just entered a huge veggie garden. The aroma was so strong and perfect that I didn't add anything else.

It was a filling and satisfying garden soup (I called it zuppa dell'orto), you can add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and/or some freshly ground black pepper in the end, or some pasta for a thicker earthier flavour. Sorry I forgot to take a photo when it was in the plates, and it got eaten so quickly!

We use rainwater for everything here, but since we live in a rain forest I think that that is logical and ecological :-)

In regards to the beans, when they mature thy change colour from yellow to pink to brown (and spotted). Usually I eat most of them when they are young and yellow, but then in autumn they go to seeds, and these beans (seeds) inside seems to be bright purple.

It is quite beautiful and I trust your sense of taste and smell enough to follow your lead when it comes to the omission of chives or other oniony things. I hope you have had a good weekend. Blessings...Mary